Thousands are paying final respects to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the capital of Ghana. He died on August 18th at the age of 80. Annan is receiving a full state funeral as the government honors the Nobel Peace Laureate and Ghana's most famous son. CGTN's Robert Nagila covered the sombre event.

One by one, members of the public filed into the main hall at the Accra International Conference Center. They were here to pay their respects to one of Ghana's most famous son's, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Among them were members of the tribe Annan belonged to the Ashanti royal family. Annan died three weeks ago, after a short illness at the age of 80. His remains were flown into Ghana on Monday evening, accompanied by his wife and children. Already there have been calls for a national holiday to be named after him.

PIUS ENAM HADZIDEGHANAIAN DEPUTY INFORMATION MINISTER "His name is already immortalized I assure you. Already there is an international peacekeeping training center named after him. Posthumously I am sure discussions will go on about what we can do to further immortalize Kofi Annan."

Others, like this artist, who goes by the name, RealPen pencil, paid tribute through his artwork, saying Annan's words had touched him in a profound way.

REALPEN PENCIL ARTIST "What I personally learnt from him is he told us whether you are black or white, we all belong to one human race."

His body will lie in state until his funeral on Thursday, where he will be accorded full state honours, befitting a man of his stature. Among those expected for the funeral is current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

ROBERT NAGILA ACCRA, GHANA "After the guests have paid their respects, Kofi Annan will be laid to rest at a military cemetery, here in the capital. ROBERT NAGILA, ACCRA, GHANA."